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Product-safety official grilled
Wednesday November 07, 2007
By Christa Marshall
An embattled federal official charged with protecting children from dangerous toys defended her agency’s record Tuesday, but a Colorado congresswoman said she should consider resigning if she can’t “demonstrate a willingness to work with Congress.”
Nancy Nord, the acting head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, disputed reports that product recalls have skyrocketed recently and said she acted properly in taking three trips at industry expense to attend work-related events.
Taking industry-paid trips “is a legal and common practice throughout the federal government … and one that has been in place at CPSC for the past 20 years, long before I came to the commission,” Nord said in front of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
The Washington Post recently investigated the travels of Nord and her predecessor, noting that they accepted thousands of dollars in airfare, hotels and meals from trade associations and manufacturers.
Under questioning from Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Nord said she would agree to a ban on such trips if Congress boosted the agency’s travel budget. Nord also spoke positively about a bipartisan House bill that would strengthen the agency’s authority and double its funding.
DeGette, of Denver, said she hadn’t decided definitively whether to urge Nord to step down but called the agency chief “inexplicably defensive” about her travel and the agency’s record.
DeGette and other Democrats noted that recall notices of children’s products have more than doubled since 2002 and argued that a surge in imports from China endangered children.
“The reality is CPSC has lost 15 percent of its workforce since 2004. As the holidays approach, parents should not have to play toy-box roulette,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Nord’s resignation after the chairwoman opposed a Senate bill to change the agency. But Nord said she objected to certain legislative provisions such as expanded protections for whistleblowers.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas, a Republican co-sponsor of the House bill, called Pelosi’s criticism a “disgrace,” adding that Nord had shown her “dedication to America’s families.”
“CPSC’s statutes have not been updated by Congress since 1990. So it is important that the committee is moving forward to modernize this agency,” Nord said.
She added that increased vigilance by her agency contributed to any increase in recalls.